A Derby art student whose dream is to sell their work for a living is set to run their business full-time after winning a year’s marketing support from a city firm.
Millie Crabtree, who operates an online brand called Sugaarloaf, says their company has taken a big step forward and has seen an increase in sales since starting working with Derby digital marketing firm JDR Group earlier this year.
Millie got the chance to work with JDR Group after winning a Dragon’s Den-style pitching competition organised in conjunction with the University of Derby, where Millie is coming to the end of a three-year BA (Hons) Illustration degree.
The competition was held to mark JDR Group’s 20 years in business and was attended by the firm’s three directors, David Roberts, Leanne Mordue and Will Williamson.
Millie began working with JDR Group in January and is benefiting from business mentoring, expert training and support regarding digital campaigns, including email marketing, the creation of a HubSpot customer relationship management account, search engine optimisation and Etsy and social media marketing reviews.
The idea is to ensure that Millie can market their products, which include anime-inspired animal illustrations, badges, and commission portraits, more proactively, attracting more website visits and driving sales.
And although it is still early days, the work is starting to bear fruit, with increased visitors to Sugaarloaf’s website and a boost in sales for some of its most sought-after products.
This month Millie dropped into the company’s premises, in Stephenson Way, for a campaign review, where they presented the directors with their own bespoke portraits, completed in Millie’s signature style.
Millie said: “So far I’ve been running Sugaarloaf alongside doing my degree, but now that I’ve finished, I am looking to run my business full-time with JDR Group supporting me along the way.
“I’ve learned so much since they started working with me. I’ve realised how much you need to know when you run your own business, and it’s far more than I thought, so I’ve been on a really steep learning curve.
“But that work has given me a clear vision of the potential that my business has. I’ve always known that this is what I wanted to do as a career, but it feels more possible now and I know where I’m going.”
JDR Group employs 40 staff and offers a full range of digital marketing services including SEO, web design, social media, and content marketing. It has built more than 1,000 websites for its clients in its time and has analysed and audited the marketing operations of more than 250 businesses.
Will Williamson said: “Our work with Millie has involved putting in place a more systematic and strategic approach to marketing. We’ve set up analytics and increased Millie’s understanding of SEO and how it will help their website to appear in Google searches.
“It’s always exciting to work with someone at the start of their business journey, and we’re excited with the results that Millie has been achieving.
“They have built up a good online following for their artwork and, of course, we’re delighted that Millie has taken time out to immortalise us all in print as well.”
To find out more about JDR group here!
This press release was issued by Penguin PR. To find out more, contact Simon Burch by emailing simon@penguinpr.co.uk or by ringing 07735 397888.
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